TOYOTA RACING – Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
AVONDALE, Ariz. (October 17, 2026) – Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell were made available to the media on Saturday prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race from Phoenix Raceway. Hamlin and Bell are top contenders in this year’s Chase with four races remaining in the season.
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Progressive Insurance Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Christopher, last week you were mad after the race. Was it because you felt like you could have done more, or something else?
BELL: “I wasn’t mad at Chase (Briscoe) at all. It was just a whirlwind of emotion for sure. Felt like we had the race under control through the early parts of Stage three and then lost the lead and Chase started driving away and I had got to be pretty content with second. I was like, ok, it’s going to be what it’s going to be and then all the sudden the last couple of laps just kind of teased me a little bit. I was disappointed in myself coming to the line, I thought that I probably could have done a little bit more to get the win, so the frustration was really myself.”
Christopher, do you feel good coming here where you have run well but have come down to two or four tires at the end?
BELL: “Certainly our confidence is high and feel like we should be in contention this week, but week after week we are doing the right things and bringing the equipment to the racetrack that’s capable of winning. We got to do a few things a little bit better to get to victory lane, but I certainly love the speed that my team is bringing to the track.”
For Denny and Christopher, how tough has it been that you have not been able to gain as many points as you would have liked at the intermediate racetracks?
BELL: “For me, it’s just going to come down to wins. For at least the 20 group, that was going to be the difference maker. We’re all going to be fast and we’re all going to be running up front, so the difference between a couple positions in a stage or a couple of positions in a race is minute, it’s a couple of points. The difference between first and second in a race is huge. Kyle (Larson) has found himself in victory lane and Denny (Hamlin) hasn’t yet and I won one early, but it’s all about winning and limiting your bad days and we haven’t done that as good as the 5 (Larson) car.
HAMLIN: “It has frustrating days, but not discouraged. I’ve only had two potential race winning cars, crashed in both of those races. So just need to clean things up and overall as a team we have to execute better and we need to be faster in all facets, on pit road, on the racetrack, all the things have to be faster because these guys are obviously performing at a high level and you have to match that speed.”
For Denny and Christopher, nobody has had a start to the Chase like Kyle Larson has. Do you look at it like surely something is going to happen to him at some point, or do you have to assume he’s going to keep doing this?
HAMLIN: “Records are made to be broken and I think that every year in the NextGen car there’s been some sort of new precedent that’s been set in different categories of the racing itself. So you just never know. And then there’s been unprecedented amount of rainouts at some of the practice and qualifying. There’s always new trends that can happen. They are definitely the model of consistency right now and maximizing their days. If they keep doing that the path is going to just keep getting and easier for sure.”
BELL: “I don’t think I can add much more than what Denny said. They’ve done a good job of getting to the end of the races and they score points.”
For Christopher, you have been competitive with Kyle Larson for a lot of years. Has that changed over the years?
BELL: “I think Kyle (Larson) and I have raced each other hard basically our entire career and I think it’s fair to say that we’re different people and we hang out with different people and I think were not friends, but we are acquaintances and will race each other hard.”
Can you have close friends at the top level of this sport?
HAMLIN: “Close friends is difficult. I think you can have friends because close friends at this top level, especially when it’s easy when one is good and one is not. It’s toucher when they’re both good because you’re going to race each other a lot, and there’s always going to be contact at times and feeling get hurt. I think it’s difficult to have really close friendships, but I think that there is an ability to separate on track from off track and still get along with someone really well off the racetrack.”
There’s a lot of cloud cover here today. What are the difficulties in practice of setting up your cars for different weather conditions?
HAMLIN: I don’t think this racetrack changes that much. We have some that are far more sensitive to sunlight and temperature than this one. I has a effect, but I just don’t think it’s quite as much here.”
This is for Christopher and Denny, what would you consider a successful weekend to catch Larson and do you feel any desperation at this point?
HAMLIN: “No desperation, but the gap needs to close starting now, that’s probably pretty accurate with our position. Then just to get back on our front foot. I think that you have to start by winning the day and then go from there. But ultimately, with the races winding donw, we’ve got to start chopping into this.”
BELL: “I agree. I think that everyone has talked about that number, what is that number? Is it when the season started you have to be top-five in points. I think top-five is within 50 points, and that’s not proven to be the number. So is the number 50 points back with four races to go, is that out of contention? Nobody really knows. So certainly myself and Denny are both 50 back right now. We need to close that gap. But looking at the rest of the races, we are all going to be running up front and scoring stage points and competing for wins, so the difference maker is who gets those wins and then Talladega. Whatever happens at Talladega, the likelihood of a crash at Talladega is a lot higher at that track than other tracks. It can hinder your points that you take away. Between Talladega and race wins, that’s going to be the deciding factor.”
Denny, how do you try not to press too hard and put too much on yourself?
HAMLIN: “You don’t need to throw a hail mary’s until the end of the game. Just have to start getting some gains. It’s something that we have to start chipping away. The time is going by and so chipping away will still get it done but it has to start sooner than later. I have not hit the panic button at all, but I can see it, I’m just not quite there yet. It start this weekend, and if we end up with a larger deficit leaving here than where we started we need to start pressing from this point on.”
Christopher, how do you also try not to do too much and have everything on your shoulders?
BELL: “I think my group needs to keep continue going what we’ve been doing. We keep putting ourselves in position. Certainly some of the wins have gotten away have fallen on myself and I put Charlotte in that position as well last weekend. I basically drag raced him to the start/finish line and I think I could have done a little bit more to stall him out whenever we were coming to the line and I ended up losing the race. So, if my team keeps bringing these race cars back and I figure out how to get to Victory Lane, then I think the 20 car could be the champion.”
Denny, you said this week NASCAR is looking at aero for the NextGen car to be more like the O’Reilly Series car. Where would you like to see it go directionally?
HAMLIN: “I think they are trying their best to make the racing better whenever they can. It’s a process. I certainly thing all of us are envious kind of watching the Saturday races and seeing who is in the power position is in second and can get close to the leader and in Cup it’s the other way around where they can kind of dictate pretty strong defense on whoever is in second. I think we would all like to see that come back and it would take quite a few rules changes to make that happen to make us run our car up in the back compared to where we are now. So, they’re working through all that. It’s something that’s on the radar that could come next year, hopefully.”
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